Former EPD employee pleads guilty to theft

The former administrative assistant to the Enterprise Police Chief pled guilty to theft of property at a hearing before Coffee County District Judge Chris Kaminski Monday, March 13.

Through an agreement between the city of Enterprise, the district attorney’s office and the court, Shannnon Davis, 44, of New Brockton now enters the deferred prosecution program.

Twelfth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Tom Anderson said that city of Enterprise Attorney Rainer Cotter agreed to Davis’s admission to the deferred prosecution upon repayment of the missing funds to the city.

Davis was arrested May 2, 2016 and charged with first- and second-degree theft of property as the result of an Enterprise Police Department investigation started April 27, 2016 when Enterprise Police Capt. Michael Moore was tasked with investigating discrepancies in the department’s purchase orders.

“The investigation determined that over $5,000 in merchandise was purchased and charged to the city of Enterprise, utilizing the purchase orders for her personal use,” EPD Chief T.D. Jones said at a news conference following Davis’ arrest. The purchases, made over an 18-month period, included home appliances, such as a blender and toaster, he said.

Jones said that Davis had handled the purchase orders for the department. “This is basically a purchase order system and her job entailed a lot of trust,” he said following Davis’ arrest. “She handles the PO's for the city. It appears that at some point, she manipulated the system and was able to go back out (to businesses) and charge more things to that PO.”

Davis had worked as Jones’ administrative assistant and had been a city of Enterprise employee for 14 years.

"It's shocking to me and disappointing," Jones said in announcing Davis’ arrest. “It hurt me tremendously because I've worked with her side-by-side for 13 years. But, no one is above the law. We're going to prosecute, and we're going to seek restitution for the money stolen.”

Davis’ plea March 13 essentially halts further investigation and waives her right to a jury trial, Kaminski explained.

Davis paid all restitution prior to the plea hearing March 13, Anderson said. “An order of adjudication is withheld until (Davis) either successfully completes the program or is removed for cause,” he explained. “Successful completion requires monthly reporting for two years, random drug testing and gainful employment in most instances, among other requirements.

“If the program is not successfully completed, we will file a motion for pronouncement of guilt and sentencing,” Anderson added.

Davis’s first-degree theft of property charge is a Class B felony, which carries a sentence of two to 20 years in prison, Anderson said. The second-degree theft is a Class C felony, which carries a sentence of one to 10 years in prison.

“However, there are presumptive sentencing standards for this offense that call for a non-prison, suspended sentence upon conviction, because of (Davis’) lack of criminal history,” Anderson said. “Also, the sentence range, upon guideline application, is substantially less than the possible penalties previously mentioned.”